Field of 48 set as NCAA Tourney prepares to kick off

The 48-team field for the 2011 NCAA Men’s Soccer Tournament was announced on Monday afternoon, mapping out the route to the national championship for the country’s elite college programs.

North Carolina was awarded the top seed, while Creighton, Connecticut and Boston College rounded out the top four. The Big East led the field for the second-straight year with seven tournament berths, and the ACC was right behind with six. Akron, which won the title in 2010, were awarded an at-large berth.

All first round games will be played on Nov. 17. The second and third-round matches will take place on Nov. 20 and Nov. 27. The eight teams remaining in the quarterfinals will go head to head between Dec. 2 and 4. The 2011 College Cup will take place at Regions Field – the home of UAB – in Hoover, Ala., with the semifinals contested on Dec. 9 and the final taking place two days later on Dec. 11.

The first round is highlighted by a matchup between Akron and Big Ten champs Northwestern, who head to Ohio in hopes of ending the defending-champion Zips’ title defense early. South Carolina will welcome historic power Wake Forest to Columbia, S.C., in another high-profile match.

Other notable games include Virginia, which is two-years removed from a national title, hosting Delaware, first-time participants CSU Bakersfield and 18-goal scorer Gyasi Zardes welcoming St. Mary’s, and an in-state battle pitting Florida Gulf Coast against Central Florida.

The semifinal and final matches will be broadcast live on ESPNU. All times listed below are local. Matches are hosted by the top seed until the semifinal and final.